


The Break-Up Cube

by SirRobin126



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, But like comedy angst, Comedy of Errors, Established Relationship, M/M, Miscommunication, POV Barry Allen, set around s2-s3 somewhere, so less angsty than normal angst, this is kind of a weird one tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2020-04-12 06:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19126582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirRobin126/pseuds/SirRobin126
Summary: What happens when you mix paranoia and romance, and sprinkle it with a liberal dose of insecure miscommunication ? Whatever it is, it’s making their coworkers' lives miserable. Harry and Cisco, normally inseparable, haven’t been on speaking terms for a little while and both of them have a pretty good idea why. It’s just too bad neither of them are right. They're pretty sure they’ve broken up, maybe, though neither of them want to, and neither of them have said a word about it.Can one meddlesome friend finally get these two stubborn messes to have a conversation like adults, or will the confrontation only lead to more trouble?





	The Break-Up Cube

**Author's Note:**

> Pretty sure I messed with the canon timeline so much that Jay Garrick is shaking his head in disapproval at me somewhere. If you notice an inconsistency, I assure you it was purely for story convenience so I wouldn't have to do rewrites.

Barry ducked as the steel beam crashed towards him. Tucking his knees into his chest, he rolled out of its way and sprang back to his feet. Dirt and gravel clung to his uniform and embedded itself in his hands, but Barry didn’t have time to shake it off. He darted to his left, a crackle of electricity shuddering in his wake as he skidded to a stop away from the huge metallic creature he was facing. He really hoped he was out of steel beam-throwing range.

“Okay Barry,” Cisco’s voice was urgent in his ear, “we’ve gotta make the most of your surroundings.”

That shouldn’t be too hard, Barry thought as he surveyed the motionless vehicles and mountains of scrap surrounding him. Standing in the middle of a construction site ought to give him plenty of options. He just wasn’t sure how much any of this equipment could actually hurt a giant robot. Another metal beam hurled towards him and Barry zipped on top of a nearby steamroller to avoid the projectile. Definitely not out of throwing range then.

“What are you thinking?” Barry asked. Right now, he was open to any ideas that didn’t involve a robot throwing several tons of refined steel through his chest. Cisco’s voice was thoughtful as he replied.

“There’s gotta be a ton of rope around right, or chains? Chains are better.”

Barry nodded, forgetting for the moment that there was no way Cisco could see him from inside the control room at S.T.A.R. Labs. He was racing around the site, scouting for chains, when another voice cut into the radio and nearly caused him to crash into the back of a parked truck.

 “Allen.” The harsh voice greet him unceremoniously as Barry wobbled to a stop. “Take a left and run though the building. Circle around the site, run up the top of the crane opposite and jump on the robot’s head.”

Barry turned left immediately, already beginning to vibrate quick enough for his atoms to pass through the solid brick.

“No, Barry don’t.” Cisco sounded annoyed. Barry stopped what he was doing once again, staring anxiously at the mechanical creature as it picked up another heavy looking beam.

“Yes Allen, do.” Harry sounded even surlier than usual. “If you build up enough speed before you jump, your lightning will fry its circuits.”

“It’s too risky.” Cisco argued back. “What if he’s on top of it when it fries? He could get crushed if it glitches weirdly. What, you didn’t think of that?”

This conversation had very quickly ceased to include Barry, who was currently dancing on his toes to avoid being crushed. He was very much on team not getting crushed.

“Of course I thought of that. I also thought of the fact that if we don’t fry it, there’s a chance it could recoup and start up again. Besides I’m pretty sure the danger won’t be a problem to escape if he moves fast enough, and forgive me if I’m mistaken but I thought that was Allen’s whole goddamn deal!”

Barry winced as Harry’s shout sent feedback rocketing through his helmet’s speakers.

“Whatever I’m going to do, I better do it fast.” He told the debating voices in his head. Hopefully the urgency would get through to them.  

“Go through the building.” Harry’s tone brooked no argument.

“No, grab the chain and run around its legs to bring it down.” Then again, Cisco would never pass up an opportunity to argue with him. Harry made an incredulous sound.

“You’re going to AT-AT it, again?”

“Sure. If it works, why not?” Cisco asked him defensively. Barry grabbed a length of chain and raced towards the robot. He shook his head, trying to clear it of the argument that continued to rage in his ears.

“Maybe because the bad guys are going to start to expect it, Ramon.” Harry’s voice was painstaking in its condescension.

“What, the robot is going to expect it?” Cisco’s mocking tone matched Harry’s.

“I would.”

“And you have the same mind as a rob-? What am I saying, of course you do. Otherwise you’d probably feel bad about being such a dick!”

Barry brought the chain to the robot’s legs, his heels kicking up a cloud of dust that swirled around them both. He circled the machine at an impossible speed, the dirt creating a vortex that snuck its way into the cracks and hinges of his foe’s metallic casing. In a matter of moments, the fight was over. The robot lay immobile in the dirt, and Barry only had a few scratches on his shoulder to show for it. He decided he wouldn’t mention that injury to Harry, who was only likely to tell him he should have run faster to avoid the debris.

“It’s over.” He panted into the microphone. There was no response. Barry tapped his earpiece, wondering if it had been shaken loose during the fight. “Guys, we won.”

Nothing. Frowning, Barry ran out to the road and signalled to Joe and the gathered police officers that it was safe for them to move in and take the defunct machinery away. The moment he knew they were advancing, Barry turned back to the labs. His job out here was done, his new mission was to find out why his friends weren’t responding to his messages.

Entering the control centre at the Labs, it wasn’t hard to tell why he hadn’t been heard. Iris stood against the nook he kept his costume in, her arms folded as she watched the dispute taking place in front of her. At either end of the expansive white-tiled room, Harry and Cisco stood, scowling at each other.

“You’re not the one in charge here!” Cisco waved his hands wildly in the air, unable to contain his frustration with Harry.  

Harry, on the other hand, was gripping the back of the chair in front of him with white-knuckled hands. Behind him, a clear board showed Harry’s reflection through a mass of hastily scrawled equations. His hair was unbrushed, sticking up in all directions as usual, and he’d pushed the sleeves of his black sweater up to his elbows.

“And you are, shortstop?” Harry growled.

“You bet your ass I’m more in charge than you.” Cisco took a step forward. His long dark hair fell in his face, but he didn’t make a move to push it back as he glared at Harry. The cheerful pineapple pattern that ran across Cisco’s short-sleeved button up didn’t feel appropriate considering his current temper.

“I guess that explains why things run so poorly around here.” Harry took a step forwards of his own. Even at this distance it was plain to see that he towered over Cisco. Barry darted in between them, a placating hand raised in both directions.

“How about everyone just calm down and tell me what’s going on. We can talk about this.”

Both men looked incredulously at Barry. Then pointed at each other.

“He started it.” They told him.

In unison.

Barry shook his head. He opened his mouth, ready to try again, but he wasn’t quick enough. Cisco was already craning his head over Barry’s shoulder to glower at Harry.

“You’re welcome to leave anytime you like, tough guy. In fact, I can vibe you back to Earth-2 right now.”

Harry scoffed. “This operation would fall apart the minute I left.”

“I’ll take my chances.” Cisco retorted.

Harry’s eyes narrowed. In a second he’d thrown the chair away from himself and was storming out of the room. His voice, raised in a high-pitched mockery of Cisco’s could be heard fading down the hallway.

As soon as he’d left, Barry turned to Cisco, a question on his lips. It was left unspoken when Barry noticed the way Cisco’s shoulders dropped as he stared at the empty doorway Harry had left through. The minute the argument ended, all the fight seemed to sap from him. Barry caught Iris’ eye and they shared a concerned look over Cisco’s shoulder. He made to comfort his friend, but Cisco was already leaving the room, grumbling about Harry under his breath.

 “At least they’re talking to each other again.” Caitlin offered weakly into the silence that followed. Barry hadn’t even seen her hidden away in the glass-walled lab until she’d stepped back into the main room. He acknowledged her point in stunned agreement.

Work had been rough lately. This time though, it wasn’t because Captain Singh was on Barry’s case. His job at the CCPD had actually been going far better than usual, owing to the fact that he’d been spending so much time in the CSI lab to get a break from the icy atmosphere that had descended on Team Flash of late. Surprisingly, the frost wasn’t coming from the only member of the team with actual ice powers.

Harry and Cisco, whether they realised it or not, seemed to be on a mission to make their co-workers as uncomfortable as humanly possible. The team’s resident engineers and purveyors of high quality snark had hit a roadblock in their young romance. Or so Barry assumed.

After a few tentative inquiries into the problem, and a few rebuffed conversation starters, Barry had been given his directive from Iris not to meddle in his friend’s relationship unless he was asked to. For some reason Iris seemed to think that Barry had some kind of inescapable need to help people and interfere in their business. He didn’t know where she got that idea from.

“I can’t believe they got so upset about one giant robot.” Barry wandered to the console and leant against its smooth, white surface.   

“They didn’t.” Iris laughed wearily. “By the time you came back they’d moved on about three times. I’m pretty sure the argument you walked in on was about how Cisco arranged the wrenches in the downstairs workroom.”

“That was the one before.” Caitlin interjected. “The last one was because Harry complained about the hazelnut coffee creamer in the kitchen.”

Iris pressed her lips together in a longsuffering grin, she nodded.

“Oh yeah, that was it. Stupider than I remember.”

“Does Harry even use creamer?” Was all Barry could think to ask.

Caitlin shook her head. “He takes it black with five sugars.”

Barry grimaced and Iris shuddered at the thought of drinking Harry’s order.

“This can’t keep happening.” Iris lifted an arm crossed over her chest and gestured at the space in which the two engineers had just been sniping at each other.

Barry nodded, then gave her a hesitant look.

“Didn’t you say you thought I shouldn’t interfere?”

“I did,” she began slowly, “and I still think that. About their relationship. But now this is affecting their work, and everyone who works with them.”

She and Caitlin shared a commiserating look.

“You’re their leader Barry, you have to lead them.”

That was easier said than done. Telling Harry not to shout was like telling a shark not to swim, extremely dangerous for whoever was doing the telling, and Harry might actually die if he stopped. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“Okay, do you know where they went?”

“The workshop?” Iris suggested.

“Like hell.” Caitlin said, almost under her breath. Iris and Barry regarded her curiously and she looked up at them, embarrassed. “They’ve been kind of avoiding the workshop lately. I think they’re afraid of running into each other there. Harry’s been joining me in the lab.”

Barry had never heard the word _joining_ uttered with such trepidation before.

“This morning he told me my soluble solutions could have been prepared by a child.” Caitlin continued, then frowned. “Although, given the only child he’s known is Jesse, that could have been a compliment. Probably not, because then he threw them out and tried to redo it himself. Only he kept shattering the flasks so I had to ban him from the laboratory. He did not take that well.”

When Harry did take things well it was still enough to bring a total stranger to hysterics. Barry was secretly glad he hadn’t been on the receiving end of that. Not that he was likely to fare much better in the near future.

“I’ve got this.” Barry announced with more confidence than he felt. He sped off without another word, and it didn’t take long to find Harry. The man rarely left the Labs, so there were only so many places he could be. This morning, he had taken up residence brooding over a screen full of numbers in the Speed Lab. He didn’t flinch when Barry came to a stop in the doorway, electricity crackling at his heels.

“Allen, you’re here to train, excellent.” Pressing his glasses further up on his nose, Harry flicked a couple of switches on the console. The track whirred to life around them, lights flickering on at intervals over its entire length.

“Yep, that's-” Barry nodded, “that’s what I’m here for coach.”

Harry hit a few buttons, not looking at Barry.

“I’ve prepped a new routine. It’s focussed on running through solid objects. You know, just in case something like that ever comes up.” Harry’s voice was bitter as he stabbed viciously at another couple of buttons.

Barry’s forehead creased in apprehension. It looked like he was going to have to pay the price for Cisco’s disagreement with Harry in the field. He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. Time to take one for team, Allen.

The routine was hard. Harder even, than the ones Harry usually programmed for him, and that was saying something. Harrison Wells 2.0 didn’t believe in slowly working your way through a problem. His way was hard and fast and all at once. Unless the problem had anything to do with his own emotions; then his method was sullen and brooding and not at all. Cisco was the one who normally got him to see reason. Thought at the moment he was having exactly the opposite effect.

The two of them had barely stopped talking to or about each other since they’d met, therefore it hadn’t been a surprise to their friends when they had announced they were seeing each other. Well, to be honest Cisco had announced it while Harry scowled at the team with his arms crossed, as if daring any of them to say a word about it. He’d softened up a little after everyone had congratulated them; Barry was pretty sure he was more embarrassed about having feelings than anything else.

They usually couldn’t shut up when it came to each other, so whilst their romance had not been a surprise, their sudden stonewalling of each other certainly had. Seeing them bicker again earlier had only served to remind Barry of what their team had been missing. Exhausted, he launched off the track and stood with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

“Again.”

It was the only word Harry had said to Barry since he’d arrived. This was maybe the fifth time he’d repeated it, still staring at the screen, flicking through the various charts as they appeared. Barry blanched at the idea of running the coarse even once more. That wasn’t what he’d come down here for, after all. Not to mention, his normally iron-tough legs were screaming for some relief.

“How about we take a break for a minute?” Barry wheezed.

Harry’s mouth quirked into disapproving line. He was about to say something scathing but Barry quickly raised his hands in a placating motion.

“We can go through the results we’ve got so far. Then it’ll be easier to figure out some strategies for the field, and develop the next stage of the program.” Barry really hoped having this conversation meant there would be no next stage to this program.

Reluctantly, Harry huffed out a breath and nodded. He flicked the switches rapidly, shutting the track down again, and took off his glasses.

“And maybe we can sit down and chat a bit?” Barry threw out over his shoulder, trying to sound casual as he grabbed himself a chair.

Harry’s head snapped up for the first time since Barry had found him.

“Chat?” He repeated, resting a hand on his hip as he brandished his glasses at Barry, aggressively. “About what? W- what would we need to chat about?”

“Oh nothing in particular.” Barry lied, sitting down near the console where Harry stood. “Just like… stuff?”

“What stuff?” Harry’s voice seemed gravellier than normal, if that was even possible.

Barry stretched a leg out in front of him, lengthening his sore, tired thigh muscles. His meta-human healing factor had already eased most of the tension in them, but he still did it to give himself some time to think. He had to be subtle about this.

“Stuff like the workshop.” Barry blurted out without meaning to. Nailed it.

Harry’s piercing blue gaze cut right through Barry’s core.

“You want to chat about the workshop?” The question was a low, dangerous warning.

“Nope.” Barry quickly retracted, flashing a smile that he hoped didn’t seem as jumpy as he felt. He peered at Harry, trying to get a read on him. When he came up short, Barry had a brilliant idea.

Moving so fast there was no chance Harry would notice he was gone, Barry ran to Harry’s room. It was in the basement of the Labs, and the space was plain, with bare white walls and a low temporary bed in the corner. Barry rummaged through Harry’s belongings, trying to find something to talk to him about, something to break the ice. Within microseconds Barry found was he was looking for, a digital photo frame filled to the brim with pictures of a smiling brown-haired girl.

Swiftly, Barry put everything back until the room looked as depressingly stark as it had when he’d found it. He hopped back into the conversation in the Speed Lab as if nothing had happened, with only a small frown from Harry suggesting that he suspected anything was off.

“I actually wanted to ask about Jesse.” He told Harry confidently. “How’s she doing?”

“Fine.”

Harry’s answer was curt but the quick flash of a smile betrayed him. Jesse never failed to be the quickest way to Harry’s heart. His obvious love for his daughter was one of Barry’s favourite things about Harry, especially in times like these when he couldn’t help but brag about her.   

“She got a commendation for her latest research project, and the university just reprimanded her for calling the Dean an asshole.”

The pride in Harry’s voice was unmistakable. Barry just wasn’t sure which of those events Jesse’s father was prouder of her for.

“Oh. That’s good.” Barry said, for lack of a better response. “Is she in trouble?”

“Of course she is. She called the Dean an asshole.” Harry looked at him like he was an idiot. Barry made a noise of interest as Harry continued.

“Apparently the fact that the Dean _is_ an asshole was beside the point. They gave her a stern warning and told her not to do it again. Would have suspended her but she’s too valuable to their grading curve to lose.”

“Why did she call the Dean an asshole? I mean, other than the fact that he obviously is one of course.”

Harry smiled at the way Barry took Jesse’s side, knowing Barry knew nothing about the Dean himself. He leant against the console, the elbows of his crossed arms resting on the edge of the tall desk.

“According to Jesse he was bullying professors he didn’t like. He was criticising them in front of students, forging complaints, trying to get their budgets cut, that sort of thing. Turns out Jesse has something against abuses of power, who would have thought.” He smiled ruefully.

“She was probably planning something worse for him but he made the mistake of singling out one of Jesse’s favourite teachers to mock in a college-wide meeting. Jesse couldn’t help but stand up in front of everyone right then and really give it to him.

Barry laughed. “She’s brave.”

“And reckless. She’s lucky she got off with a warning, it could have been a lot worse.” Harry cocked his head to the side with a smirk, his eyes somewhere past Barry’s left shoulder.

“I can’t really blame her, I guess. It’s a better reason than I usually have to call to someone an asshole. At least she’s standing up for what she believes in, and not damaging school property. You know, her freshman year she shut off electricity to half the campus for an experiment she was running outside of class?”

Barry wasn’t sure he’d ever heard Harry string so many words together at once before. He definitely hadn’t heard him do it without yelling at someone in the process.

“Yeah, well that’s got nothing on the neutrino detector she’s trying to build in their gym. I think I’m going to have to go in for a parent-teacher conference when they find that one.” Harry shuddered at the very idea of that interaction.

“Sounds like she takes after her father.” Barry grinned.

Harry returned his smile with a huffed laugh and a resigned nod. Putting his glasses back on, he straightened up and sighed at the screen in front of him.

“We should go over these results.” He said, back to business.

All the anger from that morning had seemed to turn into a weary gloom. Barry couldn’t help a pang of guilt knowing that his two engineering pals were so miserable. He knew it wasn’t his fault (or he hoped it wasn’t) but he still felt a responsibility to at least try to fix it for them.

“Sure.” Barry began, carefully. “Maybe we should get the team in to look at them.”

Harry balked, his eyebrows furrowed in indignant confusion.

“What? Why would we need- I can read a report just fine on my own, Allen.”

Barry nodded in acknowledgment. “I know, but maybe we want a second opinion.”

“That’s why I have you.”

“A third opinion then.”

“Fine.” Harry gestured dismissively at the door. “Go and get Snow. I’ll stay here and twiddle my thumbs I guess.”

“I think Caitlin was busy last time I saw her.” He side-eyed Harry slyly. “How about I go get Cisco and-”

Harry froze. Apparently Barry wasn’t as subtle as he thought he was. Harry’s chest rose in a single deep breath before he turned an icy expression on the suddenly nervous speedster.

“What are you doing?” Harry’s face was eerily still as he asked the question.

Barry shrugged, as innocently as he could.

“Nothing. I just thought he could have some useful insights on our training session.”

“Did you?” Harry didn’t sound convinced. “That’s funny, because it seemed to me like you were clumsily trying to snoop into my personal life.”

Barry tried to look shocked. He began to splutter out an excuse but Harry shook his head.

“Don’t be an idiot Allen, I know you’re not blind. You were there this morning. What, you thought I would forget that fact? I have perfect recall, and right now I’m perfectly recalling you bursting into the middle of our argument with that gormless expression on your face.”

“I don’t think it was that gormless.” Barry protested.

Harry clicked his tongue.

“Perfect recall says it was.” He replied, childishly.

Barry shrugged the comment off. He’d known Harry for too long to still take his defensive insults to heart. Dropping any hint of pretence, he let out a breath and looked at Harry sadly.

“What happened man? I thought things were really going well with you two.”

Harry made an indignant noise at being asked the question but Barry could tell his heart wasn’t in it. He leant against the console again, rubbing his eyes behind his glasses.

“Yeah, so did I.”

Barry couldn’t bear hearing his voice so defeated. He would rather Harry was yelling at him, or throwing things. At least then things would somewhat resemble normality.

“Do you know why?” Barry trailed off, he wasn’t really sure what question he was asking.

Harry shook his head. “You’re his best friend. He’s still talking to you, so you’d know better than me.”

“Okay, but-” Barry began.

Harry drew in a deep breath and looked Barry in the eye.

“Mr Allen.” Harry’s voice was strangely formal, and that mister in front of his name couldn’t be good. “I am not about to discuss the details of my fraught love life with you. Either you get back in that track and run another routine or you can turn around and leave right now.”

Barry made to talk, but Harry lifted a finger at him.

“One more word about the subject, and I promise I’ll divest you of your speed faster than even you can blink.”

Barry couldn’t tell if Harry was joking, but he didn’t know what else to do but laugh.

“Oh come on,” he smiled at Harry, trying to elicit a friendlier reaction, “I know you got rid of that stuff after Zoom.”

Harry stepped away from the console. Slowly and deliberately, he paced towards Barry. He stopped when they were face to face, his steely glare making his expression unreadable.

“You wanna make that bet?” He asked with a smile, voice barely more than a whisper.

Barry did not. He didn’t need any further incentive to rocket away from the Speed Lab and out of Harry’s possibly kidding clutches.

Okay, he thought as he raced back through S.T.A.R. Labs, one snarky engineer down, one to go. Not that he thought he got much of use out of Harry. He realised with a pang that he hadn’t even done what Iris had asked him to do, talk about how his attitude was affecting the team. Mostly, Barry had done exactly what she thought he was going to, meddle in their relationship drama. He couldn’t help it, he needed to get them to make things right.

Cisco wasn’t at the Labs so Barry headed into the city. It wasn’t long before he caught sight of Cisco’s wide grin through the Jitters window as he thanked the barista. Changing out of his uniform in a second, Barry returned to see Cisco’s smile vanish when he walked back to his table. Without hesitation Barry whooshed into the seat opposite him. Cisco jumped, spilling coffee all over his trouser leg.

“You’d think I’d be used to that by now.” He muttered, grabbing a couple of napkins and dabbing them on his wet knee.

“Sorry.” Barry grimaced, but Cisco waved the apology off. He sat back on the black couch cushion and took a sip of his coffee, eyes closed. They snapped open a second later so that Cisco could glare openly at the barista.

 “What’s up?” Barry asked, following his gaze. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary about the line of people waiting impatiently for their drinks.

“This creamer tastes like Hazelnut.” Cisco narrowed his eyes at the counter like he was figuring out which of the Jitters employees was responsible for purposely trying to ruin his life.

“Okay,” Barry waved his hand to get Cisco’s attention. He wasn’t going to even attempt to take the subtle approach this time. “First things first. I’m not meddling in your relationship and if Iris asks that’s what you can tell her.”

Cisco raised his eyebrows and dipped his coffee cup to Barry.

“Noted.”

“Cool. Second thing. What is up with you and Harry and how do I fix it?”

Cisco groaned. For a second he let his eyes wander. They trailed over the high wooden tables, and the balcony hanging above them. Everywhere but Barry as Cisco decided whether or not he was going to get into it.

“I have no idea what his problem is.” He said eventually. “Well I mean, I know what lots of his problems are, the guy’s basically a walking Rubik’s Cube. I just don’t understand how he got himself twisted this time.”

Barry was restless in his seat. He leant forwards.

“But what happened?”

“I don’t know man. Things were going great. Or at least I thought they were.” Cisco cast another thoughtful look around the café.

“I mean you saw us, right? I know we had that Sam and Diane thing going on, but I kind of hoped that was just going to be the bickering part, not like, the breaking it off part. I thought maybe we were about to transition from a Sam to a Darcy.”

“A Darcy?” Barry asked, trying to follow Cisco’s train of thought.

“Mr Darcy. You know, Jane Austen?” Cisco explained, a little self-consciously. “It kinda fits cause like, Elizabeth and Darcy are always fighting and don’t understand each other and he’s a rich arrogant jerk who’s rude to everyone.-”

Cisco paused and let out a frustrated breath.  

“But then, they get to actually know each other and they become better people and live happily ever after basically. What?” He added in response to Barry’s confused stare.

“You know Jane Austen?”

Cisco shrugged. “Harry and I watched Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I got hooked. What can I say? Apparently, I love turn of the century romances concerning the economic reality for women of the gentry in Regency England.”

“Each to his own.” Barry grinned. He let a pause go by before becoming serious again. “So did you guys break up?”

Cisco frowned. “I guess? I don’t know. Surprisingly, we haven’t actually talked about it. I just-”

His fingers tapped impatiently against the side of his ceramic cup.  

“Everyone could see we were clicking like crazy underneath all that bluster from his side.  When we got together it was- It was really good. We were just on this wavelength where I felt like I actually got what he was thinking. We spent all this time together and he like, made me feel important.”

“You are important.” Barry said automatically.

“Yeah, but he made me feel it.” Cisco averted his eyes quickly and took another sip of his coffee.

Barry wasn’t sure how to reply to that. Luckily Cisco wasn’t finished.

“And then after all that good stuff I thought was going on, it just, happened. I tried to escalate things and Harry got all weird and crazy and stopped talking to me.” Cisco pressed his lips together firmly.

“What do you mean by escalate?” Barry asked, carefully.

“You know, I tried to take it to the next level.” Cisco fiddled with his cup, pushing it back and forth between his hands. It made a quiet scraping sound as it dragged across the table in front of him. “I asked Harry to move in with me. I mean, he can’t keep living in the Labs forever and it’s not like he can get his own apartment or anything looking like a dead murderer so, it just made sense you know.”

He finished his sentence in a rush, a colour rising in his cheeks. Finally, Barry felt like he was close to understanding something.

“So you asked him to move in and he said no.”

“That’s the thing.” Cisco’s wide smile was undercut by the wildness in his eyes. “He didn’t say a damn word. So like, he didn’t tell me no, but come on, how else am I supposed to take that?”

“Wait, he was just silent?” Barry was confused. “Did he storm out, did he just stand there? I don’t-”

“No, it wasn’t- Okay, so maybe I slightly  misrepresented my- Alright let me just tell you from the beginning.”

 Cisco took a deep breath.

“So I decided to ask Harry to move in with me because he’s an idiot living in a bedroom that would depress a Spartan and sleeping on a crappy camp bed. I got a new key made but I didn’t just want to hand it over. I wanted to do something kinda special and romantic because who doesn’t like a romantic gesture, right?”

Cisco looked to Barry for confirmation and Barry was happy to oblige. He nodded furiously.

“Right. So I portalled it to Earth-2 because I wanted to put together like, something from his world and something from my world.” Cisco’s round cheeks were beyond flushed by now.

“Well I found something right way; this dude had a shop where he was selling all these cool metal boxes. So of course I got one cause they look rad as hell, though I did have to raid Harry’s wallet before I went, for that E-2 cash.”

Barry smiled incredulously. “You bought Harry’s present with Harry’s money?”

“Please,” Cisco shrugged off the question, “he’s been pick-pocketing me for Big Belly money since he got to this earth. You should probably check your wallet too, I wouldn’t put it past him to steal from the Flash.”

A waitress threw a curious look their way.

“The, uh flash-iest guy I know.” Cisco hastily corrected himself with a strained laugh. The waitress moved on and Cisco let out a relieved sigh, raising his eyebrows in wonder that the brilliant amendment he made didn’t blow their cover.  

“When I got home I ripped a bunch of insides out of the box and fitted it up with a velvet cushion. Now, I don’t wanna toot my horn or anything, but it looked plush as hell dude. So I stuck the key in it and left it on Harry’s desk.”

“Right, so when he opened it up he didn’t say anything?”

“No.” Cisco’s eyes darted to the side and then back to Barry. “I don’t know. I didn’t actually see him opening it. It’s still sitting on his desk and neither of us have said anything about it. I did vibe him spotting the box though. I mean not opening it, but let me tell you he did not look happy about seeing it there.

“So I guess it’s pretty clear what happened. He saw what I gave him, got cold feet about committing to the relationship and instead of being an adult about it, he decided to ignore it and hope it would go away. And now I’m just gonna get ghosted or sniped at forever. It was probably too much to expect a proper break-up conversation from that child.”

Barry frowned, his eyes following the waitress as she cleaned up leftover plates on the next table.

“I talked to Harry, after you left this morning.”

Cisco didn’t say anything, but his jaw tightened.

“He seemed really agitated and upset. Like, more than usual, I mean. I was just trying to talk to him and he got in my face and threatened me, I think.”

Cisco shrugged. “So what, that means it’s Tuesday.”

“Yeah but- wait is it really? Wow, my concept of time is way off.” Barry looked into the middle distance, before quickly shaking himself out of it. He looked at Cisco seriously again.

“I just think it’s weird he would be so upset about you asking him to move in with you. And if it was cold feet then he must be having second thoughts about it because he looks miserable, man.”

Cisco nodded but he didn’t say anything.

“There’s no question he cares about you, I’d never seen him so happy as when you got together. When you first started dating, Harry let me go three weeks without yelling at me to train. He bought Caitlin a muffin. Not because she asked, just cause he was already at Jitters and thought he’d be nice. Harry! God, if you’d asked me I would have said he’d move in with you in a heartbeat. I really don’t get why he would freak out so bad.”

Cisco spread his hands wide and smiled dolefully at Barry.

“Welcome to my brain.”

Barry’s foot tapped restlessly against the table’s wooden leg. He glanced at Cisco’s bag leaning against the side of his chair. Before he could give himself another moment to think about it, Barry was speeding back to S.T.A.R. Labs, a plan swirling about in his head. In the corridor outside of the control room, Barry saw someone pressed against the wall, looking towards the open doorway. He skidded to a stop and found Iris’ wide eyes staring at him, a finger at her lips. Asking her what was going on, Iris shook her head.

“Keep your voice down.” She told him. “I cannot go back in there.”

In the next room Barry heard the rumble of a gravelly voice and a tell-tale crash.

“Harry?”

Iris nodded. Her brown eyes looked into his and Barry couldn’t help a small intake of breath at how beautiful she was. Lightly, she touched his chest.

“So Bear, I know I told you that it wasn’t right to meddle in their relationship. I just- I wanted them to be able to get through their first hurdle themselves, to figure it out and become stronger as a couple. I didn’t think they needed people to witness and prod at their vulnerability, I mean I know I wouldn’t want that.”

“Yeah, I get it.” Barry told her, remembering that he still hadn’t talked to either of them about their professional activity like she’d suggested. He hoped that when his plan was put in place that conversation wouldn't be necessary.

“Well, when I told you that I was thinking about normal people.” Iris’ voice dropped into a serious tone. “I forgot that Harry was… Harry. He is not going to figure out anything by himself.”

A movement in the hallway caught both of their attention. They watched warily as Caitlin exited the room and brushed past them. She flashed the pair an exhausted look as she called to Harry over her shoulder, telling him she’d find whatever it was he was looking for. After she was out of sight, Barry padded towards the entry to the control room, Iris silently following. The two of them peered around the edge of the doorway to see Harry with his back to them, his hands braced on the command console.

Harry had a tendency, in moments when he trying to be particularly scary, to go still. He froze out his emotions, freaking out whoever he was trying to intimidate. This was different. He wasn’t trying to be frightening. Now being stationary, he almost looked calm. It was not very Harry of him. Barry looked back at Iris thoughtfully, very glad she’d given him her tacit blessing to do some meddling. Barry gestured for her to go, signalling that he had this under control.   

Still in the corridor, Barry took Cisco’s phone out of his pocket. He only felt a little bad about swiping it from his bag. Entering the passcode (the date Cisco got to meet Ricardo Montalbán), Barry quickly sent a message to Harry asking him to meet in the workshop in fifteen minutes. The moment he hit send, Barry whipped into the room, lifting Harry’s wrist to eye-level so Harry’s iris scan would unlock his watch. Once unlocked, he typed out a message to Cisco’s tablet, telling him the same thing. Putting Harry’s hand away, Barry sped back to Jitters and slipped Cisco’s phone back into his bag.

The next fifteen minutes were the slowest of Barry’s life. He was so restless he had to force himself to calm down because he kept accidentally vibrating through solid objects. Barry had no idea what he was going to say or do when they arrived at the workshop, if they even took the bait. He hadn’t planned that far ahead. Hopefully he was right that both of them were just waiting for the other guy to start the conversation. If they weren’t then Barry wasn’t sure what his next play should be. He stalked the upstairs corridors of S.T.A.R. Labs, every interminable second feeling like an eternity.

Eventually, he felt like he’d given it more than enough time. Racing down to the workshop, Barry nearly started a domino effect by knocking into the dense stacks of spare parts and machinery at the far end of the room. A squeal startled him as he straightened the rack, and when he’d put it right again, he saw an alarmed looking Caitlin pressed up against the wall to avoid being squashed.

 “Sorry.” He said, embarrassed. Caitlin didn’t look much better than him. She patted herself down, trying to look nonchalant.

“That’s okay, it’s fine. I was- I was just down here looking for…” she spotted an object to her left and grabbed it, “this.”

Barry raised an eyebrow. “You needed a carjack?”

“Yep. Harry asked for- oh who am I kidding.” She couldn’t even make it through one excuse. Caitlin put the jack back where it was.  “Harry said something about needing a thing from the workshop and I volunteered to go get it. By which I mean I raced out of the room before I heard what he wanted. I’ve just been staying down here to get a breath of fresh air, this is the one place in the Labs neither of them will go.”

Barry rubbed the back of his head guilty. “About that…”

Right on cue, two belligerent voices met each other in the hallway. Caitlin’s eyes went wide as the argument rapidly found the doorway and continued into the workshop. Thankfully the two reluctant witnesses were well-hidden behind the tall stacks of metal.

 “-and it was a petty trick to hack into my software, Ramon. You better believe I’m going to be adding new firewalls the second I’m out of here.”

Barry peered through a gap in the rows and saw Cisco throw his hands up in frustration.

“I cannot believe how far you’re taking this bit, I’m already here okay. You don’t need to keep conning me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I guess that makes two of us.”

Harry typed furiously on his watch, only to have Cisco’s tablet buzz a second later. Cisco read whatever the message was and rolled his eyes. He brandished his phone at Harry.

“You’re so immature, I don’t know how I ever dated you.”

Barry closed his eyes, realizing that they had been arguing on both platforms he’d sent them messages on, long before they’d reached this room. He should have expected it really. Since when did these guys just go quietly? When he opened his eyes he saw Harry with his hands on his hips, fingers resting at the base of his black sweater.

“So is that it then?” He asked, his tone aggressive but with a hint of hurt. “My immaturity.”

“What? What does that mean? Why can’t you just tell me what the hell you’re thinking?” Cisco’s hands clawed at the air in front of him as he struggled to get Harry to make sense.  

“I think you made it pretty clear you didn’t want to hear what I was thinking anymore.”

“When would I possibly have had time to do that? When you were icing me out for the last week and a half? When you turned and walked away every time I walked into a room?”

“Oh no, Ramon,” Harry shook a finger at him, “you do not get to put this on me.”

Cisco’s eyebrows shot upwards. “Excuse me?” He asked, offended.

“Yeah, you heard me.” Harry sarcastically matched Cisco’s indignant tone. “You’re not the wounded party here.”

Cisco shook his head like he was trying to get water out of his ears. His dark waves swayed with his confusion. Caitlin looked like she would pay a lot of money to be anywhere else right then. Barry would have run the both of them out of there but at this point he didn’t want to risk Harry and Cisco spotting his lightning crackling past and bring their wrath down on himself.

“In what world does the guy who rejected me get to be an asshole and play the victim in this situation?”

“Rejected you?” Harry looked like he was on the back foot for the first time. His body was still set in an aggressive stance, but his expression was lost.

“Yeah man, I know you didn’t say it outright, because why would you ever do something sensible like that? But it was pretty clear you didn’t like what I had to say.” Cisco gestured at the metallic box sitting on the desk between them.

Harry’s eyes slid to it as well. They were both silent for a moment.

“How could I?” Harry asked quietly.

Cisco blinked feverishly and drew in a breath through his nose. “Alright, well I guess I just thought we were more than what we actually were, clearly.”

“What the hell was in it?” Harry asked, bewildered.

Cisco was incredulous as he stared at Harry, trying to decide if he was joking or not.

“You didn’t even open it?” He asked, eventually.

Harry adjusted his glasses uncomfortably. “No. Of course I didn’t open it.” He threw out, a sharp hand gesture dismissing the very idea.  

“I can’t believe you!”

“Me! How is this on me?” Harry’s hands were balled into fists as his sides, his fingers digging into his skin. “No, don’t turn it on.”

Furiously, Cisco ignored him as he took a step towards the desk and threw open the box. Harry was quiet for a long time, long enough for Cisco to start to look nervous.

“What the hell is this?” Harry said eventually, his tone completely perplexed.

Cisco scratched the back of his head, his fingers threading through his long hair. He didn’t seem sure how to answer Harry’s question.

“What the hell does it look like, genius?”

“A key.”

Cisco nodded, his hands spread in acknowledgment of how obvious the statement was. All the fight had drained from Harry’s face, but he didn’t look upset anymore. He looked almost relieved.

“I thought it was a Break-up cube.” He explained to Cisco, like that was supposed to make sense to him.

Apparently Cisco’s clueless expression told him that it did not. Harry’s gaze lifted to the ceiling, and his mouth twisted into a self-conscious grimace.

“You don’t- you don't have those on this earth, do you?” He let out a low consigned groan, still not looking at Cisco. “That would explain a lot.”

“Harry,” Cisco began, firmly, “what’s a Break-up cube?”

“It’s- you know.” Harry twisted his hand, making the shape of a box in the air. When he saw that wasn’t enough to explain it, he continued, shoulders tense. “When you want to break up with someone you send them a hologram in a box just like that. The box has got candy, the tissue pops out, it’s all very streamlined.”

“That’s horrifying.”

“It’s usually a very elegant solution.”

“Wait, so you thought I’d given you one of those, but you didn’t think to check?”

“No, of course I didn't.” Harry swallowed. “What, I wanted to hear about all the reasons you didn’t want to be with me? That’s- that’s too, I couldn’t-”

Cisco was staring up at Harry, his expression very different than before.

“You just immediately thought I was breaking up with you.”

Harry jerked his head to the side and paced a few steps away.

“What was I supposed to think? A mysterious box shows up on my desk, no context, and then you- you were being super weird about it.”

“Of course I was!” Cisco exclaimed exasperatedly. “I basically asked you to move in with me and you freaked the fuck out.”

Harry turned around to face him. “Why didn’t you just say something?”

“Why didn’t I say something?” Cisco was disbelieving. “Have you met you, dude? I try and get out word in and you leave the room and start brooding over a whiteboard. Why didn’t you say something?”

Harry stalked back over to him, a finger at Cisco’s chest.

“Because you gave me a Break-up cube.”

“No I didn’t.”

“It sure as hell looked like one.”

“But we were going great. Why would you just assume it was that?”

“Oh, because I’m from a different planet.” Harry swept his arms outwards.

Cisco pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay E.T. you cannot keep using that as an excuse for everything.”

“Just watch me.”

Cisco smothered a smile at Harry’s doggedness. He quickly frowned again, but it didn’t have the same power to it. Harry wasn’t looking, he was too busy fidgeting with his glasses and trying to arrange his stance casually enough to ask Cisco his next question.

“So, you don’t- want to break up with me?” He asked, a strangely hopeful note to his voice.

Cisco’s smile was rueful. “Against my better judgement, no I don’t. I never did.”

Harry nodded, still unsure of himself. It was Cisco’s turn to look nervous now.

“And I never got an answer but do you,” he glanced at the box again, “want to move in with me?”

Harry put his hands at his hips once again. His eyes travelled everywhere but Cisco as he shifted his weight uncomfortably. He nodded, quickly.  

“Yes.” He managed to choke out, as if embarrassed to even admit it to himself.  

“So why are we arguing right now?”

“You started it.” Harry muttered. 

Cisco laughed. “You idiot.”

They stepped closer to one another and Harry reached out to Cisco.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled, almost too quietly to hear.

“You’re a menace, don’t forget that. But I obviously made a mistake not checking what the box was, if I had any idea… Look, I’m pretty sure I would have freaked out if I got one too.” He put a hand on Harry’s forearm. “I’m really sorry.”

Harry accepted the apology, lifting his hand to Cisco’s cheek. He dipped his head down, making up the difference in height between them. Suddenly Caitlin’s hand was on Barry shoulder, startling him back to reality. He took a step back from the shelf, averting his eyes from the rapidly unfolding situation. He and Caitlin nodded in solemn agreement, it was definitely time to go, consequences be damned. Barry grabbed her tightly around the waist and rocketed out of the room, eyes shut to give Harry and Cisco their privacy. He hoped they were too busy to notice the trail of electricity and scattering papers he left in his wake.

He expected that to be the last excitement of the day when he dropped Caitlin off in the control room. Instead, he found Iris bent over the command console, speaking into the microphone as she tried to flip rapidly through the screens.

 “Dad, just hold on, I’ve almost got it.”

“Alright baby, I believe you, I’m just trying to handle this giant robot on my tail.” Joe’s voice crackled through the speaker.

Barry stepped forward. “What’s going on?”

Iris looked beyond relieved to see him.  

“The robot wasn’t completely down when the CCPD brought it in. Dad just called, he’s trying to organize a strike team but he’s pinned down where he is.”

In a second, Barry was in his costume again.  

“Get Harry and Cisco up here,” he told her firmly, “they’re in the workshop.”

Iris raised an eyebrow and looked at Caitlin who confirmed it with a nod. Not asking any more questions, yet, Iris buzzed the workshop as Barry sped out into the city in search of Joe. Quickly, he found the building the police were holed up in, watching the robotic creature shamble around. Some of them took pot shots at it from behind cover but it barely made a dent in the metal frame

Barry waved to Joe to signal that he was there, Joe nodded and spoke over his shoulder to his crew. Barry touched a hand to his ear.

“What's the play here guys?”

“-told you it would come back.” Harry’s voice sounded like he was mid-argument.

“Uh, just give us a minute, Barry.” Cisco sounded a little short of breath. “Okay, do you see a rope or chain anywhere?”

Barry scouted the area rapidly, picking up a length of metal wire on a thick spool. As soon as he found it, Harry’s voice predictably cut back in.

 “Come on, Ramon. It’s not going to fall for that again.”

Barry could have groaned. After everything they’d just done, how could they be back at square one?”

“It might.” Cisco protested.

“Or it might have us figured out.” Harry paused. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Barry asked, hastily unspooling the wire.

“Unless that’s what we want to happen.” The voice was Cisco’s this time. He and Harry spoke over each other in their haste to tell Barry their new plan.

“We confuse it-”

“-we make it think we’re going for the legs.”

“-you’re building up enough speed-”

“-enough speed to fry its circuits for good. So while it’s trying to avoid your trap-”

“-it leaves itself vulnerable to your lightning, got it?”

Barry made a face. “I think so.”

“Look, it’s simple. We make it think we’re doing Empire, and while it’s confused-”

“-you come up and Palpatine that sucker.”

“Exactly.”

Barry didn’t waste any more time. Attaching one end of the wire to a steel pylon, he sped around the robots feet and as he did, flung his arm outwards, gathering a cloud of lightning around it. When he made to pull the restraint taught, the creature stepped out of the bindings, but Barry was already gone. He’d sped up the side of the nearest building and jumped off backwards, landing on the machine’s head and feeding it the full force of his gathered electricity. The lightning sparked and sizzled as it overloaded the robot’s circuits, eventually losing its balance and crashing down once again.

A chorus of cheers sounded from the cops in the opposite building, and a more controlled congratulations signalled in Barry’s ear. He debriefed with Joe about what had happened earlier, and what the contingencies were if it was ever to happen again. Trying to pay attention to Joe’s explanation, Barry couldn’t help but be distracted by the conversation happening all the way across the city. With the threat averted, Iris had immediately turned her journalistic interrogation on Harry and Cisco. Apparently all it took was them looking slightly like they were back together again for concern about meddling to evaporate.

They explained to Iris a shortened version of events, which Iris listened to, unimpressed. The last thing Barry heard before he began his run back to the Labs was Iris accosting Cisco.

“You tell your boyfriend he’s got to get himself under control and start behaving himself. I’m not going to be held hostage to his mood swings every time you two have a fight.”

“Don’t worry, I’m taking him out of your hair. Maybe I’ll teach him some manners too, My Fair Lady style. You want anything else I think you’ll have to take it up with him.”

“Oh, I intend to.”

Cisco chuckled. “I would pay to see that conversation.”

“Maybe I’ll wait until you guys are settled in, I don’t want to ruin your housewarming.”

“Please Iris, that would be the highlight of my night.”

Barry grinned into the wind as he sped back. He was looking forward to returning the suddenly very un-icy atmosphere of S.T.A.R. Labs indeed.

 

*     *    *

 

A week or so later, Barry found himself on a quiet morning, leaning next to Cisco as he sat at the command console.

 “So how’s cohabitating with Harry?” He asked, casually.

Cisco made a thoughtful noise and leant back in his chair.

“Well, let’s see. He’s rearranged all my DVDs into his own indecipherable order. My closet is overflowing with a million black jackets. And this morning I tripped over a plasma gun and nearly shot a hole clear through the bathtub.”

“You love it, don’t you?” Barry grinned.

“Yeah. I really do.” Cisco sighed, contentedly. He looked across the room to where Harry was sipping coffee and glaring at a tablet screen. “Don’t tell him I said that though.”

Barry laughed. They watched as Harry looked up from scowling at his notes. He spotted their attention and locked eyes with Cisco. Smiling quickly before dropping his eyes again, Harry ruffled the hair on the back of his head, as he pretended to read the screen with the same furious attention. But he couldn’t hide the fact that his scowl had almost completely vanished.

Barry clapped Cisco on the shoulder. “I’m pretty sure he already knows.”

A few minutes later, Barry straightened and walked out of the room. The tranquillity of the morning was shattered almost as soon as he left and a flood of loud voices followed Barry down the corridor.

“Who keeps a plasma gun in the bathroom?” Cisco asked.

Harry’s response was defensive and immediate.

“I’ve told you again and again that it is the least defensible and most vulnerable position in almost any house.”

“Well now it’s the most dangerous position in our house.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, the laundry-“

“What did you do to my laundry?!”

“Nothing, never mind.”

“Harry, come back here.”

Barry kept walking even as he heard footsteps behind him. He wasn’t about to interfere with this one, he was pretty sure his friends had it from here; provided Cisco didn’t succumb to an explosive buried amongst his dirty clothes.

“What did you do to my laundry?” Cisco called again.

“I didn’t do anything.” Harry insisted. His retreating footsteps got some distance to them before adding, “don’t use the cold wash cycle.”

“Harry!”


End file.
